Cliff & Mary, No disagreement with anything Cliff had to say, but I may be able to expand a couple things: >"1st - does this sound like a Dutch name to any of you ??" Arthur C.M. Kelly lists it in his book "Names, Names and More Names - Locating Your Dutch Ancestors in Colonial America". Although what the list means is not exactly clear, I believe it is supposed be a list of mostly Dutch surnames. The given name Harmon was very common amongst the Dutch. I have done quite a bit of research on the colony in Brazil as well as early New York and "South River" (Delaware) and Harmon is one of the most common names or patronymics I have run into. Of course, that was a very early period and names tended to loose their "ethnic" identity as the nation become more racially and culturally diverse. >"2nd - would it be likely for someone who was not Dutch to be baptised / christened into the Dutch reformed church in 1834 ??" The Reformed Church is Calvanist. So is the Presbyterian Church. From 1800 to 1950, the Albany Reformed Church frequently had difficulty in hiring a Reformed minister and more often hired a Presbyterian minister than one trained in the Reformed religion. So, it would not be too great a leap to go from Presbyterian to Reformed. Also, there were times in parts of the Netherlands when Reformed was the required religion, only to be replaced with the Lutheran religion, and then be replaced again by Reformed. In New Netherland, Lutherans often went to the Reformed Church before Lutheran Churches became established in this country. However, I think it all happened too early to play a role in 1834. I believe my answer to #1 may eliminate the need for a better answer to this question. Most of the Dutch on the Delaware (which I am most familiar with) either married a Swede and fell right into the Swedish Lutheran congregations there, or adopted the Moravian faith when it was introduced. The Dutch do not appear to have been as exclussive about their religion as many others were (as with the Swedish congregations, which are ethnically exclussive to this day). Of course, we are talking about a people that demonstrated religious and racial tolerance LONG before any of their European peers. Since the 1500's, the Dutch have provide a safe haven for the religiously oppressed. >"3rd - how old would a person have to be, to be considered an adult for an adult christening ??" Probably 21. As I recall, children whose father died at age 18 or 19 needed a guardian, even if living with their own mother. This would also depend on the time period being discussed. Under English law, a 16 year old male was considered an adult in almost every way. I believe the only thing they could not do was sell property - they could definitely be conscripted, sued, taxed and married without consent. 18 was an post Revolutionary innovation and the very modern age of 21 began to take hold after WWII. >"4th - I find no land records in his name yet he was a farmer. If he did not own his land, what kind of records would exist for the rental (or whatever) of the land ??" If he lived in Rensselaer or Albany Co., he would very likely have lived in the Rensselaerswyck Manor and have paid a yearly rent. I don't know if such records have survived. I think that the land was still passed from person to person with a deed, however, even though the person could not technically own the land. So, the County Clerk's Office may have the deed information. I know that Albany Co. has the deed (in Dutch) of my ancestor who bought land from the Indians in the 1600s. It is on microfilm. Although he bought the land, he did not own it because it was part of the Rensselaerswyck land grant to Killiaen Van Rensselaer. No additional take on this. Jerry D. Vandiver ________________________________________________________ Outgrown your current e-mail service? Get a 25MB Inbox, POP3 Access, No Ads and No Taglines with LYCOS MAIL PLUS. http://login.mail.lycos.com/brandPage.shtml?pageId=plus